A Word From Geoff – October 2017

The Christian church has for many years been derided and caricatured by the media and by those who are very ignorant of its positive influence throughout the nation and the world. The majority of TV dramas and sitcoms have portrayed church members and its clergy as stupid, totally out of touch, ineffectual, and totally lacking in any interest in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Personally I am pretty tired of it, and sometimes quite angry too. The Bible paints a portrait of the church with a much more accurate brush and presents a number of strong images, it is called the body of Christ, the bride, an army, a royal priesthood. Powerful and thought provoking images that over the centuries we have lived up to at times, whilst have capitulated at other times, when we have looked more like a pussycat than a roaring lion.

Towards the end of October we will be considering some of these amazing images of the Church, which we hopefully will take on board. Bill Hybells head pastor at Willow Creek Church in Chicago once famously said:

There’s nothing like the local church, when the local church is working right – it’s the hope of the world.’

You don’t get that impression watching ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ or the whiskey drinking Vicar in Grantchester.

Let’s restore what is our inheritance as Gods people, and start to demolish the caricatures that have plagued us for so long, and let’s finally start to live up to all the things that Gods word says we are.